Bill 259

                    Current Status

Bill Number:               259
Ratification Number:       293
Act Number                 193
Introducing Body:          Senate
Subject:                   Absentee registration request forms

(A193, R293, S259)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 7-15-130, 7-15-320, AS AMENDED, AND 7-15-330, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO ABSENTEE VOTING, SO AS TO PROVIDE A PROCEDURE ALLOWING ABSENTEE VOTING BY A PERSON WHO IS ADMITTED TO A HOSPITAL AS AN EMERGENCY PATIENT ON THE DAY OF AN ELECTION OR WITHIN A FOUR-DAY PERIOD BEFORE THE ELECTION AND TO PROVIDE THAT AN APPLICATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM AN EXTENSION OFFICE OF THE REGISTRATION BOARD.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Absentee registration request forms

SECTION 1. The first paragraph of Section 7-15-130 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"A person specified in Section 7-15-110 or a relative or friend of the person may at any time request from the board of registration of the county of the residence of the person or at an extension office of the board of registration, as established by the county governing body, a registration form and, in making the request, shall furnish the name and home address and absentee mailing address of the person."

Absentee voting authorized

SECTION 2. Section 7-15-320 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 130 of 1987, is further amended to read:

"Section 7-15-320. A qualified elector in any of the following categories must be permitted to vote by absentee ballot in all elections when he is absent from his county of residence on election day during the hours the polls are open, to an extent that it prevents him from voting in person except that physically disabled persons, poll managers, county voter registration board members and staff, and county election commission members and staff working on election day, a person admitted to a hospital as an emergency patient on the day of an election or within a four-day period before an election, and persons whose employment obligations required that they be at their place of employment during the hours that the polls are open and present written certification of that obligation, signed by their employer, to the county registration board may vote by absentee ballot whether or not absent from their county of residence:

(1) students, their spouses, and dependents residing with them;

(2) members of the Armed Forces and Merchant Marines of the United States, their spouses, and dependents residing with them;

(3) persons serving with the American Red Cross or with the United Service Organizations who are attached to and serving with the Armed Forces of the United States, their spouses, and dependents residing with them;

(4) persons in employment;

(5) physically disabled persons;

(6) governmental employees, their spouses, and dependents residing with them;

(7) electors with a death or funeral in the family within a three-day period before the election;

(8) persons on vacation (who by virtue of vacation plans will be absent from their county of residence on election day);

(9) poll managers, county voter registration board members and staff, county election commission members and staff working on election day;

(10) overseas citizens;

(11) persons attending sick or physically disabled persons;

(12) persons admitted to hospitals as emergency patients on the day of an election or within a four-day period before the election."

Absentee registration applications

SECTION 3. Section 7-15-330 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 422 of 1988, is further amended to read:

"Section 7-15-330. To vote by absentee ballot, a qualified elector or a member of his immediate family must request an application to vote by absentee ballot in person, by telephone, or by mail from the county registration board, or at an extension office of the board of registration as established by the county governing body, for the county of the voter's residence. A person requesting an application for a qualified elector as the qualified elector's authorized representative must request an application to vote by absentee ballot in person or by mail only and must himself be a registered voter and must sign an oath to the effect that he fits the statutory definition of a representative. This signed oath must be kept on file with the board of registration until the end of the calendar year or until all contests concerning a particular election have been finally determined, whichever is later. A candidate or a member of a candidate's paid campaign staff, including volunteers reimbursed for time expended on campaign activity, is not allowed to request applications for absentee voting for any person designated in this section unless the person is a member of the immediate family. A request for an application to vote by absentee ballot may be made anytime during the calendar year in which the election in which the qualified elector desires to be permitted to vote by absentee ballot is being held. However, completed applications must be returned to the county registration board in person or by mail before 5:00 p.m. on the fourth day before the day of the election. Applications must be accepted by the county board of registration until 5:00 p.m. on the day immediately preceding the election for those who appear in person and are qualified to vote absentee pursuant to Section 7-15-320. A member of the immediate family of a person who is admitted to a hospital as an emergency patient on the day of an election or within a four-day period before the election may obtain an application from the registration board on the day of an election, complete it, receive the ballot, deliver it personally to the patient who shall vote, and personally carry the ballot back to the board of registration. The board of registration shall serially number each absentee ballot application form and keep a record book in which must be recorded the number of the form, the name, home address, and absentee mailing address of the person for whom the absentee ballot application form is requested; the name, address, voter registration number, and relationship of the person requesting the form, if other than the applicant; the date upon which the form is requested; and the date upon which the form is issued. This information becomes a public record at 9:00 a.m. on the day immediately preceding the election, except that forms issued for emergency hospital patients must be made public by 9:00 a.m. on the day following an election. A person who violates the provisions of this section is subject to the penalties provided in Section 7-25-170."

Time effective

SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.